Dusting of Snow

Winterfest at Gymnastics East

Last weekend, Mina had her first gymnastics recital. It was so sweet. She LOVES gymnastics.

Best of 2008 Lists

2008 Seattle Times booklist.

KEXP DJ Top Ten 2008 album list.

Best Washington wines of 2008

Snow, beautiful snow!

Yesterday we (seriously) had a snow day in anticipation of snow. Today we have a snow day with snow and lots of it. It is glorious. We had a fun morning and i'll post pictures later.

Wanted to share this cool link about a Seattleite running to all 27 Seattle libraries TODAY!

Seattle Times article about the guy

His twitter account with txt updates! http://twitter.com/seesamrun

Once Miles is napping, i'm going to put on my XC skis and go out for a spin on the trails.

Rich is working from home and making bread today.

I love snow days that include snow.

Recipe from Rich: No-Knead Bread

Rich's friend at work got him to try No-Knead Bread. He's thinking that this will become his mid-week loaf. :) Rich made SIX loaves of bread today including two of these. He's dreaming about going to baking school. Phantom Lake Bakery?

Homemade Marshmallows

Another kindergarten mom made these homemade marshmallows and they were really good. I thought that making them with the candy cane twist (i.e. add peppermint oil and smashed up candy canes) would be a fun winter treat. Our first batch is all mixed and setting - ready anytime after lunch tomorrow.

Cooking with Rockstars

Iron and Wine was recently on Austin City Limits. Tonight, I checking on the web to see how old Sam Beam is (34) when i stumbled upon Cooking with Rockstars! Hilarious. It is interesting - like the host, two of my passions are food and music. I like her taste in music too. But i'm not so sure that some of these people like to cook. I do agree on the multiple comments about keeping it simple. I don't know about trying a grilled vege dog with peanut butter on toast. Sorry Chris Walla. Maybe camping food...

O Christmas Tree

R-L Family (Advent) Calendar Activities so far...

Family dance to Christmas music
Make holiday cookies
Make snowman art. Turn your family into snowpeople!
Make a paper chain for the tree
Paint your toenails RED! (still pending)
Get your Christmas tree
Decorate the Christmas tree
Work on Christmas cards
Have a picnic under the tree (we had two in one day. fun)
Pick a toy on the giving tree (at Rich's work)
Sing Christmas carols at bedtime

Piano Recital Deux

This evening, Mina had her second piano recital. She played "It's a Small World" and well as number called "Hand Bells". She was RATHER nervous when she saw the larger-than-expected crowd. This reaction called for some encouragement, cuddles and a check-in with teacher Jordeen. At the beginning of the recital, Jordeen did a kind thing and had all the "nervous" kids put up their hands. Pretty much all the kids quickly raised their hands. That definitely helped Mina. When it was her turn to play, she got up quickly and walked up, nervously chewing at her fingers. She announced her song and focused in on the keyboard. It was very sweet. When she was done, she was instantly over-the-moon proud of herself, as were her parents and little brother.

The other fun of today, which added to tonight, was making cookies for the recital. We made the same cookies that were sent out in our Ontario-bound packages - the new Williams-Sonoma Stained-Glass Holiday cookies. It is far from a simple holiday cookie but is a fun-to-make and beautiful cookie that will be a tradition in our house. The cutter cuts windows which you fill with smashed lifesavers. I think that we made 32 today. I really enjoyed this effort with Mina, making something to share with everyone. The cookies were a hit.

More Adventures in Edible Art

Hands-down my favourite book discovery of 2008 is the book on Cooking Art. The kids and i made these edible people for Friday night pizza. Here they are, eating their new friends while watching The Polar Express for the first time.